of authors.  The writers of the Old Testament, especially, lived in different, and some of them in very distant ages.  They were widely separated from each other in native character and endowments, in education, and in their outward circumstances and position in life.  It is of the highest importance that the student of Scripture not only know these facts, but ponder them long and carefully, till he fully understands their deep significance.  He has been accustomed from childhood to see all the books of the Bible comprised within the covers of a single volume.  He can hardly divest himself of the idea that their authors, if not exactly contemporary, must yet somehow have understood each other’s views and plans, and acted in mutual concert.  It is only by long contemplation that he is able to apprehend the true position which these writers held to each other, separated from each other, as they often were, by centuries of time, during which great changes took place in the social and political condition of the Hebrew people.  Then, for the first time, he begins to discern, in the wonderful harmony that pervades the writings of the Old Testament, taken as a whole, the clear proofs of a superintending divine Spirit; and learns to refer this harmony to its true ground, that “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:21.

According to the received chronology, Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy about 1451 B.C, and Malachi, the last of the prophets, wrote about 397 B.C.  The difference, then, between the time of these two authors is 1054 years; or say, in round numbers, about 1000 years.  From Moses to the anointing of David is, according to the shorter chronology, 388 years; and from Moses to the composition of the books of Kings, nearly nine centuries.  From Joel to Malachi we must assume a period of about 400 years, within which space our present prophetical books were composed.  The earlier of the psalms written by David differ in time from those composed at the close of the captivity by about 530 years.  Let the reader who has been in the habit of passing from one book of the Bible to another, as if both belonged to the same age, ponder well the meaning of these figures.  They confirm the arguments already adduced (ch. 12, No. 4) that the unity of Scripture has its ground not in human concert, but in the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

4.  The books of the Old Testament have been differently classified and arranged.  But in no system of distribution has the chronological order been strictly observed.

(A.) The Jewish classification and arrangement is as follows.  They first distribute the books of the Old Testament into three great classes, the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings; that is, the canonical writings not included in the other two divisions—­the Hagiographa (holy writings), as they are commonly designated at the present day.